A decade in songs: A look at the most timeless tunes of the 2000s

By Todd Martens Looking back at the last decade in songs is not an easy task. There were plenty of great singles, and works by Beyonce and Justin Timberlake are reflected in the pages ahead. But the 2000s meant more than having a sexy-back and taunting an old lover. Unlike cinema or television,...

By Todd Martens Looking back at the last decade in songs is not an easy task. There were plenty of great singles, and works by Beyonce and Justin Timberlake are reflected in the pages ahead. But the 2000s meant more than having a sexy-back and taunting an old lover. Unlike cinema or television,... (Images: Kid Sister (Don Flood), Kanye West (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times); Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong (Kim Kulish / For The Times)

Though not given a proper record label-sanctioned release until 2002, Wilco's "War on War" captured a band in transition and a country awash in anxiety. Written before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the imagery in the song was suddenly hauntingly familiar -- flaming doors and miles...

Though not given a proper record label-sanctioned release until 2002, Wilco's "War on War" captured a band in transition and a country awash in anxiety. Written before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the imagery in the song was suddenly hauntingly familiar -- flaming doors and miles... (Los Angeles Times)

The cross-genre pollination of the '90s gives way to a full-on multimedia hybrid. A faceless band, led by Blur's Damon Albarn, doesn't merge genres so much as blur them. With cartoon images out front, courtesy of Jamie Hewlett, the Gorillaz may have been seen as a gimmick, but were ahead of...

The cross-genre pollination of the '90s gives way to a full-on multimedia hybrid. A faceless band, led by Blur's Damon Albarn, doesn't merge genres so much as blur them. With cartoon images out front, courtesy of Jamie Hewlett, the Gorillaz may have been seen as a gimmick, but were ahead of... (Los Angeles Times)

Longtime Oklahoma weirdos the Flaming Lips smoothed things out a bit for this ballad, and it doesn't hide its message in metaphors. "Do You Realize," singer Wayen Coyne begins to ask, "that everyone you know someday will die?" Yet this isn't a song of sadness, and perhaps that's why it was...

Longtime Oklahoma weirdos the Flaming Lips smoothed things out a bit for this ballad, and it doesn't hide its message in metaphors. "Do You Realize," singer Wayen Coyne begins to ask, "that everyone you know someday will die?" Yet this isn't a song of sadness, and perhaps that's why it was... (J. Michelle Martin)

Long removed from the now-dated synth sounds of the '70s and '80s, the 2000s represented a growth spurt of sorts for electronic music. Though his licensing efforts make nearly all of Moby's songs ubiquitous, this is a buoyant, uplifting dance number with a simple message, and as close as music...

Long removed from the now-dated synth sounds of the '70s and '80s, the 2000s represented a growth spurt of sorts for electronic music. Though his licensing efforts make nearly all of Moby's songs ubiquitous, this is a buoyant, uplifting dance number with a simple message, and as close as music... (Los Angeles Times)